Frequently Asked Questions about Frameless Doors.

Where can your doors be installed?

Our incredibly versatile single and dual glazed doors should be considered as a replacement to your traditional french doors or patio doors to maximize views and space. Our doors have been installed in a variety of buildings including private and commercial properties. As well as customer residential homes, our doors feature in restaurants, sport venues, car dealerships, schools, churches and even in cruise ships.

Why are our doors so special?

Our frameless slide-and-stack doors combine the best qualities of both sliding and bi-fold systems. With no vertical mullions to interrupt your sightlines and an exceptionally compact stack when fully open, the system lets you enjoy uninterrupted views and a seamless connection to your space—open or closed. Each panel operates independently, allowing you to partially open the system for ventilation or fully retract it for maximum openness, delivering unmatched flexibility and versatility.

How secure are the doors?

Our doors have passed an enhanced security test called PAS 24. They are extremely secure, robust and durable, they cannot be compromised.

How can I see your doors?

In the United Kingdom, we offer our substantial Kent Showroom as the best place to view our entire range of single and dual glazed frameless doors, porch doors and a full aluminium range from some of the UK's best brands.

In the United States, you can view our dual glazed frameless doors at a local dealer.

We offer this for you to get to see what they really look like in a home.

Where are your frameless slide and stack doors made?

Our doors are British designed and made in Britain. We exclusively manufacture our frameless glass curtains at our factory in Kent. We ship nationwide and provide installation assistance.

FGC has designed and consistently upgraded our doors over the years to provide, what we consider is the best frameless slide and stack doors on the market.

How much room do open and stacked doors take up?

Each door is a super-slim 1 3/4" (45mm) wide compared with 3 9/16" (90mm) in most other systems. Therefore, they stack neater than other products on the market allowing you to take advantage of your entire opening.

What are your maximum door sizes?

Our doors are designed to cover standard apertures and can also span entire walls or elevations. Each panel can be up to 51” wide and 118” high. Our sizes exceed many residential bifolding door systems and go taller than many sliding door products too.

How do the doors seal?

Our unique doors work on a sophisticated compression system. When the locking handle is turned, a side column expands, compressing the doors together making them water and weather tight.

Can I have a flush threshold?

The bottom track can be sunk into the floor with just a 3/16" (5mm) threshold, so virtually no trip hazard and it's wheelchair friendly.

Why are your doors so special?

Our Frameless slide and stack doors combine the best features of both sliders and bi-folds. A downside with sliding doors is you can't open the entire door set fully and a downside of bi-folds can be the bulky framework and the concertina folding method.

With our doors, you can open up the whole aperture. And because of the glass spacer bars we use, there are no visible mullions. The doors can be also partially opened to allow ventilation, making them incredibly versatile. None of these features come with sliding or bifolding doors.

Can your doors be used inside as well as out?

Yes! We have extensively fitted our doors in many homes, offices and commercial buildings as either internal doors (or room dividers) as well as fully functional external doors.

We recommend our single glazed doors for internal applications that also feature an ultra-low threshold at only 3/16" (5mm)!

Whether you have our doors fitted internally or externally, there is no compromise on performance and security.

What colors are available with frameless slide and stack doors?

The outer framework can be in any RAL color of your choice.  Custom colors are also available subject to additional cost.

How many panels are possible on frameless slide and stack doors?

Our doors have been designed as both swing, pivoting and folding doors. This means you can have a single hinged glass door or a pair of hinged opening doors.

For our frameless slide and stack doors, we offer from three panels right up to special designs. One example of multiple doors is an installation with 18 panels at the Manchester United Training Centre. Every system is custom made to fit your opening and we can configure the panel sizes based on the projects needs. 

What glass is provided on frameless slide and stack doors?

The glass you see in our unique frameless glass doors is exclusive to us. This is what makes our doors so special.

We use top quality glass from the leading global glass processors manufactured from toughened safety glass. Additionally is our patented 13/16" (20mm) glass spacer (not metal that you will find on other types of doors). In the United States our standard dual pane glass make-up has a U Value of 0.30 and SHGC of 0.22. We also offer triple glazed options upon request.

Our glass features either 5/32" (4mm) or 1/4" (6mm) units using Saint-Gobain Planitherm 1 energy-efficient glass with argon or kyrpton gas between the panes.

For doors that have single glass, this is 3/8" (10mm) toughened glass.

Why do your doors pivot and others fold? What is better?

The hinged bifolding door you will typically see is designed to be a slide and fold door. Whilst most quality doors use excellent running gear and hardware, they rely on the door hinges between the panels to enable them to fold.

The advantage of the pivoting and sliding action of our doors is that you benefit from no aluminium in between the doors and no visible hinges. Furthermore, our doors offer are far more convenient if you simply want ventilation without opening the doors compared to typical aluminium doors.

A further benefit is that our doors when folded fully back will take up far less space inside our outside your home than typical aluminium doors. On a four panel frameless slide and stack doors, they will only take up 7 1/16" (180mm) of your space. This is substantially less than other quality aluminium bifolds.

What opening options are possible with frameless slide and stack doors?

Our doors can slide to the left or right, open in or out as well as having access panels, dual door panels and other combinations. We are sure once you’ve seen our doors that you’ll find them more versatile than another quality bifolding door.

What hardware options are available.

We offer a wide range of handles to suit each individual door. These range from contemporary glass, polished or satin stainless steel and much more. Contact us for further information.

With all our handles, they are complemented by secure locking systems that provide exceptional security and tested meet British and European Standards.

We are confident that when you see our doors in action you will agree that they offer much more than a quality aluminium bifolding door. Contact us for further information about our range of frameless glass products.

Are your doors kite marked (UK)?

Yes. Our doors are kite marked (UK) , but due to the location of the stamp on the glass and the design of the doors some of the stamp is hidden behind a profile. Should you or your building inspector require evidence of this we can issue a certificate of conformity.

Is frameless glazing safe?

Yes. Frameless glazing uses toughened, laminated or multi-layered glass that is strong and safe. There is even glass that is strong enough to walk on.

Toughened glass is regular glass that is heat treated to alter its properties and give it exceptional strength. Toughened glass is a legal requirement in all doors and in windows below a certain height from the finished floor level. Toughened glass, should it break, is designed to shatter into thousands of harmless pieces that won’t cause injury. It is toughened glass that is used on the side and rear windows of cars.

Laminated glass is two or more pieces of glass sandwiched together with a plastic sheet. Should laminated glass break, it won’t fall into pieces or dangerous shards but will hold together. Laminated glass is used on car windscreens as an example. Laminated glass is frequently used in high security doors and windows or for those home improvement products certified to an enhanced security standard.

Is frameless glazing energy efficient?

Our dual glazed doors give an overall Uvalue of 0.30 and 0.27 on triple glazed. We are very proud to say we offer the most energy efficient frameless sliding glass door system in the industry.

When comparing other models claiming to be frameless, many of these use single glass. Single glass does not have the energy efficiency of dual glazed products and in some areas of the house falls outside the scope of current Building Regulations.

Therefore frameless doors that are single glazed are not energy efficient and only suitable for internal use. For external doors we recommend a dual glazed product.

What are the benefits of frameless products?

The key benefit of frameless products is their minimalist appearance thanks to the excellent views frameless products provide. Frameless products are ideal for bringing the outside into your home, enjoying all the light and glass brings while protecting you during the winter months.

Frameless windows and doors provide uninterrupted views that even a slimline aluminium or PVCu door cannot provide. Frameless products also provide a cleaner aesthetic, especially inside the house.

Can I have a flush threshold?

The bottom track can be sunk into the floor with just a 3/16" (5mm) threshold, so virtually no trip hazard and it's wheelchair friendly.

What are your maximum door sizes?

Our doors are designed to cover standard apertures and can also span entire walls or elevations. Each panel can be up to 51” wide and 118” high. Our sizes exceed many residential bifolding door systems and go taller than many sliding door products too.

How much room do open and stacked doors take up?

Each door is a super-slim 1 3/4" (45mm) wide compared with 3 9/16" (90mm) in most other systems. Therefore, they stack neater than other products on the market.

Where can your doors be installed?

Our incredibly versatile single and double glazed doors have been installed in a variety of buildings including private and commercial properties. As well as customer homes, our doors feature in restaurants, Manchester United’s training ground, Aston Martin and Audi car dealerships, schools, McDonalds, churches and even in cruise ships.

What is the ordering process?

Get in touch for a quote by contacting our sales team. They will be able to provide a custom proposal including installation services.

Is any aftercare or maintenance needed?

Your installation team will leave you with a can of silicone spray. We recommend that at least six times per year you spray the bubble gaskets and track to keep your doors gliding smoothly.

Why should I trust FGC?

We are proud members of the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) and FENSA. We are certified by NFRC & Keystone Certifications Inc. We pride ourselves on our excellent aftercare and honoring our warrantee. You can read our many testimonials and glowing reviews from our many delighted customers.

Do you provide installation support?

Yes! FGC will do all we can to ensure your installation goes smoothly. Should there be any problems with your doors post-installation just let us know and we will work with your local maintenance team out to assist with any necessary repairs (fees may apply for anything not covered by your warranty).